SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has filed for divorce from her husband Bryon Noem, according to court records.
Kristi Noem filed for divorce in Hamlin County on April 6 but the documents were not posted on online court service until Monday. The basis for the divorce is irreconcilable differences, court documents said.
The couple has been married since May 23, 1992, according to court documents. Speculation about the Noem marriage has swirled around the couple for several months.
Kristi Noem is also the former Secretary of Homeland Security where she served from January 2025 until March of 2026.
The divorce paperwork was filed a week after the New York Post published a story about a tabloid leaking a photo on the secret life of Bryon Noem in late March. By April 1, other national media had picked up the story.
The filing was also about a month after Kristi Noem testified in a House Judiciary Committee hearing on March 4 related to her then role as the DHS Secretary. This was the day before Noem was let go on March 5.
Bryon Noem was at least some of the hearing in which Kristi Noem testified during the March 4 House Judiciary Committee hearing. At least some of the questions were about former Trump Presidential Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski and his role with the DHS. Some questions said that Lewandowski had an improper role with certain awarded contracts. Lewandowski has denied any improper roles or actions.
California Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove specifically asked Kristi Noem during the hearing “have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?”
Noem responded, “I am shocked we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee.”
Kristi Noem has been repeatedly linked to Lewandowski.
In 2021, a conservative online publication accused her and Lewandowski of an affair.
She responded on her X social media account: Governor responded on Twitter, calling the allegations “rumors” as “total garbage and a disgusting lie.”
“These rumors are total garbage and a disgusting lie. These old, tired attacks on conservative women are based on a falsehood that we can’t achieve anything without a man’s help.
I love Bryon. I’m proud of the God-fearing family we’ve raised together. Now I’m getting back to work,” Kristi Noem said on her social media account in 2021.
Bryon did not attend the Aug. 6 unveiling of Kristi Noem’s governor’s statue in Pierre. She said that her family, including Bryon, had supported her during her time as governor.
Kristi was the governor from Jan. 5, 2019, until Jan. 25, 2025. She resigned in 2025 to become the Secretary of Homeland Security. She lost that job in March of 2026. She was named Special Envoy for the The Shield of the Americas.
Bryon operates an insurance business in Brandt. Court documents said that both he and Kristi live in Castlewood in Hamlin County.
